Binder for briquets.



UNITED STATES Patented July 21, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCES B. MERRILL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO MERRILL PROCESSCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BINDER FOR BRIQU ETS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,987, dated July 21,1903.

Application filed November I, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCES B. MERRILL, of New York city, county of NewYork, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Binders for Briquets, of which the following is a specification.

- The aim of my invention is to provide a new and improved material foruse as a binder or agglutinant in the manufacture of briquets from coal,coal dus tw or other granular material.

At the present day it is a common practice to produce briquets of coalor coal-dust by combining therewith the ordinary pitch of commerce andsubjecting the combination or mixture to pressure in suitable molds.

In the use of briquets as heretofore constructed two difliculties. havebeen encountered-first, that the percentage of the binder required wasobjectionably large, and, second, that owing to the character or natureof the binder the briquets when subjected to heat were liable either todisintegrate and assume the form of a loose granular mass or, on theother hand, to melt down and assume a pasty or semifluid condition, bothof which conditions were open to objection.

The aim of my invention is to provide a binder of such character that asmall proportion or percentage of the same will serve to bind thegranular material firmly together and produce a solid body or briquetadapted to withstand high temperatures without disintegrating ormelting, In other words, I aim to produce a briquet which will retainits solid condition as it is gradually reduced by the combustion ofmaterial at its outer surface or by the gradual fusion ofnon-combustible material, such as flue-dust or iron ore.

In carrying my invention into practice I make use of tar or crude pitch,preferably coal-tar pitch, combiningtherewith sulfate of iron and water,subjecting these materials to heat, as hereinafter explained, wherebythe tar is modified and a pitch or binder of new characteristicsproduced.

Serial No. 129,786. (No specimens.)

to eighty-five parts of coal-tar ten parts, by weight, of water and fiveparts, by weight, of sulfate of iron. These combined materials areplaced in a still or equivalent apparatus and the temperature graduallyraised to 570 Fahrenheit. During this distillation the contents of thestill are subjected to agitation to facilitate the escape of thevolatile matters which it is desired to eliminate-that is to -say, thosewhich will pass over within the temperature named. When the distillationis complete and volatilization ceases, the mass is permitted to cool andthe process is complete. The resulting product is a pitch differingmaterially from the material with which the operation was begun. It isexceedingly brittle or friable and may be reduced to the form of powderby rolls or other crushing mechanism, such as is commonly employed forthe reduction of granular substances. It will adhere tenaciously tocoal-dust, iron ore, and other granular materials, and it is adapted toresist much heavier pressures and higher temperatures than ordinarypitch before dis integrating or softening.

While I have named the proportions and the temperatures which I findbest adapted for general use, it isto be understood that the proportionsof the iron sulfate and water may be varied within reasonable limits andthat the limits of temperature employed in distillation may be modifiedto some extent, according to the particular use to which the binder isput or'the character of materials with which it is to be combined. Thebest results are obtained by dissolving the sulfate of iron in the waterbefore adding to the pitch. I propose to combine my binder in granularform inthe presence of heat and pressure with coal-dust or othermaterial to be briqueted.

A separate application will be filed for the preferred mode ofprocedure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is-- 1. The method ofproducing a binder or ag- In proceeding to prepare my binder I addglutinant for granular materials consisting in distilling coal-tar,water and sulfate of iron In testimony whereof I hereunto set my insubstantially the proportions and at subhand, this 19th day ofSeptember, 1902, in the 10 stantially the temperature specified.presence of two attesting witnesses.

2. The process of modifying coal-tar to produne a binding pitchconsisting in progress- FRANCES MERRILL ively distilling the tar in thepresence of sul- Witnesses: fate of iron until a temperature of 570 Fah-JOHN F. GEORGE, renheit or thereabout is reached. P. T. DODGE.

